Report from 14-10-14

The first 2014-15 ODA Parish Cup ties were played last Saturday producing some close and very exciting games. Holm travelled to Stronsay, Shapinsay travelled to Firth and Burray played host to their close rivals South Ronaldsay.

Stronsay v Holm

First to the oche in the 2014-15 Parish Cup were Stronsay and Holm. In their quest to reach a sixth straight Parish Cup Final Holm travelled out to Stronsay by plane, giving themselves an extra couple of hours in bed. Holm got off to a great start winning the first three doubles to move 3-0 up before Holm skipper Bruce Moar beat Trevor Shearer 2-1 and then Brian Stevenson won 2-1 against Mike Holland to put Holm 5-0 in front.

Stronsay’s Richard Groat stopped the rot with a comprehensive 2-0 win over Holm’s best player Billy Ward before Holm’s other best player Freddie Tait restored Holm’s five game lead with a close 2-1 win over Stronsay captain Damian Stout. With the score now at 6-1 in Holm’s favour, Stronsay really needed to pull something out of the bag in the last two games of the first half to give themselves a chance of a second half comeback and that is exactly what they did with Garry Dennison beating Darren Tait 2-0 and Sam Caithness overcoming Sean Stanger 2-1 to reduce the deficit to 6-3 to Holm at half-time.

The Stronsay Hotel provided a welcome bite to eat for both teams at half time and it certainly seemed to get the Stronsay boys going in the first couple of doubles. Damian Stout and Trevor Shearer took out Billy Ward and Freddie Tait 2-0 before Richard Groat and Garry Dennison finished off Sean Stanger and Darren Tait by the same score to cut the gap to 6-5 in Holm’s favour.

It looked like Stronsay were on a roll now having won four games in a row and one or two of the Holm boys were starting to feel the effects of a late night and an early start! It was down to Sam Caithness and Mike Holland to beat Bruce Moar and Brian Stevenson to draw Stronsay level however the experienced Holm pairing held on to win 2-0 to put Holm 7-5 ahead. Bruce and Brian then both won their singles 2-0 against Trevor and Damian respectively to make it 9-5 and ensure at least a draw.

A big sigh of relief went across the bar from the Holm team when Billy closed out the match with a 2-0 win over Sam Caithness before Freddie beat Garry to make it 11 for Holm. In true parish spirit the Stronsay boys didn’t give up until the very end and Mike Holland and Richard Groat won the last two matches 2-0 against Sean Stanger and Darren Tait to make the final score 11-7 to Holm. The only fancy stuff on the day was a 120 checkout from Bruce Moar.

Stronsay finished the day in good style with a convincing win in the gallon to secure the day’s final bragging rights but it is Holm that now goes through to play Birsay in the quarter final at the Commodore. South Ronaldsay beat Burray 11-7 and will now play either Orphir or Eday in the quarter final.

GBM

Firth v Shapinsay

It was saturday night darts fever in the Pomona Inn last weekend for the first round parish cup darts match between Firth and Shapinsay, a repeat of the 2010 quarter final which the islanders narrowly won 10-8.  Another close match was anticipated this time around and so it proved.  As is common in parish matches, with so much passion and pride involved, the nervous tension sometimes reduces the quality of darts thrown but this in turn creates a highly exciting match.

The match started shortly after 7pm and shapinsay raced into a 2-0 lead with Colin Leslie and Ian Eunson dispatching Chris Seator and Gary Aim before the Moar brothers narrowly lost out to Kevin Gray and Gordon Rendall. Firth were needing to get points on the board but despite playing well, Robbie Stanger and Andrew Clouston just failed to pip Calum Miller and Graham Rendall. 3-0 to shapinsay.

The match was beginning to look like it was going to run away from the home side as parish debutant Andy Green scored well but couldn't find the double as he lost 2-0 to the steady Ian Eunson.  Eric Walls finally broke the duck, playing well to take out Graham Rendall 2-1. Shapinsay captain Kevin Gray then cruised to a 2-0 win over Brian Moar, checking out 101 in the first leg. New Firth skipper Stevie Moar showed his boys the way to go with an assured display of scoring and finishing to beat Colin Leslie 2-0. This was followed by 2-0 wins for Chris Seator and Robbie Stanger over Gordon Rendall and Calum Miller respectively.  Half time Firth 4 Shapinsay 5 and all to play for.

After a welcome supper provided by Whilma Hutchison the second half got underway with the home side knowing it was crucial to take at least one point from the pairs.  Despite some big scoring from Andy Green, neither he or Brian could find enough to edge past Kevin and Gordon, losing 2-1.  at this point the match seemed to be turning, perhaps the increasing atmosphere in the Pomona was helping the local side as the place was beginning to fill up with the regular saturday night crowd and there was terrific buzz about the place.  Stevie Moar and Andrew Clouston then turned on the style to record a 2-0 win over Colin and Ian, a score which was repeated by Robbie and Chris over Calum and Graham.  Now the match was 6 all and it was anybody's guess as to how it would finish.  Shapinsay reclaimed the lead with Gordon Rendall taking out Gary Aim 2-1 with Gary being desperately unlucky on his doubles.

The lead was extended by Kevin beating Robbie 2-0 in what was undoubtedly the match of the night, with both players living up to their reputations by scoring well, with Kevin recording a 180 along the way.  Nerves were starting to play a big part in the match by now and Eric had a shaky start against Ian before finding his form to win 2-1.  8-7 to Shapinsay. This was quickly followed by a 2-1 win for Chris over Graham, who was unlucky to have twice gone up to the board thinking he'd hit his double only to discover he was the wrong side of the wire...chunky darts have their disadvantages!

With the score tied at 8-8 both sides were just 2 points away from victory.  Brian finally found the form that had been deserting him for most of the night to win the 17th point in a close game with Colin, who pushed him hard all the way but Brian took the win 2-0 hitting a 180 en route.

In 2010 Calum Miller hit the match winning double but this time he faced Stevie Moar knowing that he was playing to keep his side in the match.  Stevie had a fantastic first leg, scoring well and hitting tops first dart with Calum poised on a finish.  The second leg was shaky from both players but there was nothing to separate them.  Stevie hit the outside of the double wire before Calum checked out to bring it to a one leg shootout between them.  All eyes were on them as they bulled up.  Calum hit the 25 before Stevie nailed the bull dead centre.  The nerves were really showing now, with both players stumbling and stuttering down towards a finish.  Three times Stevie threw at the double and was already on his way to retrieve it only to hear it click the outside of the wire.  Calum came equally close but eventually he found the bed to take the match to the dreaded gallon.

And so, one leg of 1001 was to decide who would emerge victorious and both skippers agreed to play it out in order of the second half singles.  Shapinsay won the bull up and raced into a 200 point lead before Firth staged a comeback to pull within 30 points by the 500 mark.  It was here that the Shapinsay players found their form at hitting the treble with all of them recording a 60 plus score where the Firth boys were just landing outside the treble.  With Firth on just over 230 points, Kevin Gray narrowly missed the bull on what would have been a 115 checkout.  This was followed by Ian Eunson busting 25 by hitting treble 9 and Graham Rendall just shooting wide of the mark on double 4.  Meanwhile Eric walls and Chris Seator had scored big, leaving Firth on 88 with Brian Moar next in line for the home side.  However Colin Leslie decided the game had gone on long enough.  He stepped up to the oche, drew his right arm back and let the dart fly.  An eternity seemed to pass before the dart landed close to the inner wire of double 4.  A deathly hush swept through the Pomona as nobody could tell if it was in or not.  Colin leaned forward slightly to check and then punched the air victoriously to answer the question, Shapinsay had won!

On the balance of play the result was a fair one but what a classic match!  The game was followed with the usual evening of friendly banter between the two teams and the Shapinsay team now go into the quarter finals  to play either Sandwick or Harray, taking with them the best wishes of the Firth team.

Brian Moar